Thank you, Otto.
A note to the list:
Yes, I microfiched Posen (Sokolitz) records, and indeed, the surname Block was spelled Block, Bloch, Blech, throughout time. (DOBs and given names confirmed they were same family).
Also, I had read some history of the high German being from the high lands -
NOTHING to do with superiority of language -
but the Germans of the Dakotas forgot to read that paragraph! hah.
You clarified (Low Saxton/lowland/platt deutch) definition for me.
I hadn't thought of it being a "dialect" of German!
That certainly would explain it - beings it doesn't look like she ever even visited Holland! hah.
Had to google "Frisian" - a German ethnic group from Netherland area, in case someone else doesn't know.
Thank you again, Otto
And thank you, Frank, for confirming that I had the right Heimthal!
Charlotte DuBay
hoeserhistory at aol.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Otto <otto at schienke.com>
To: Charlotte Dubay <hoeserhistory at aol.com>
Cc: ger-poland-volhynia <ger-poland-volhynia at sggee.org>
Sent: Fri, Sep 13, 2013 2:23 pm
Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] difference betw Dutch and German language?
On Sep 13, 2013, at 2:51 PM, Charlotte Dubay wrote:
>> What pleasure this mailing list brings...thank you all...
>> Another question, triggered by your posts:
> My Block ancestors (German Lutherans) lived in Posen area (about 100 NE of
Berlin) from 1700-1892, until my great-grandparents came to USA.
>> My great-grandmother Wilhelmina Meyer Block spoke Dutch, but was born in
Posen, baptized in near-by Lobsens.
>> Any ideas on why grgrandmother spoke Dutch? If her parents were Dutch, you
would still think she learned German in Posen. How different does Dutch sound
from German? (Great-grandmother passed away 2 years before I was born, so I
never heard anyone speak Dutch. Guess I should google a translation program and
hear what it at least "sounds" like!)
Block, Bloch, Blech as the spelling dances with the vowel sound. Block sounds
anglicized, (ck use). . .maybe.
Grandma probably spoke a Frisian (name sounds frisian) or Lower Saxon dialect.
Very similar to Dutch(Deutsch). All are Lowland German dialects. The German of
the North Sea and Baltic coast shores was Platt-Deutsch, Flatland/Lowland
German.
She didn't learn German from anyone in Posen, she already spoke it.
Since 1871 it became fashionable to speak the "Hochdeutsch"/High German of
Luther's bible (in public anyway) High German has nothing to do with superiority
of language, it was geographical, the speech of the hill dwellers from Luther's
vicinity. I refer to it as 'hilly saxon.'
. . . Otto
" The Zen moment..." wk. of January 01, 2013-
_____________________________________
"Answers out there . . . Seeking us."